Oregon W Emerald
MARGUERITE WITTWER-WRIGHT
Editor
GEORGE PEGG
Business Manager
TED GOODWIN, BOB FRAZIER
Associates to Editor
BILE STRATTON
Managing Editor
BILL YATES
News Editor
BERNIE HAMMERBECK
Sports Editor
DON FAIR, WALLY HUNTER
Assistant Sports Editors
MEMBER —ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WIRE SERVICE
Signed editorial features and columns in the Emerald reflect the opinions of the writers.
They do not necessarily represent the opinion of the editorial staff, the student body, or the
University^ ^ secon(] c]ass matter at the postoffice, Eugene, Oregon,
Guest Editorial
Restrict Immigration?
(Editor’s note: Today the campus honors foreign-born students
with the second annual International Festival. ... In Salem, the
Oregon house of representatives is considering a joint memorial
directed to the national congress urging that body to restrict im
migration. We present this editorial, written by Flora Furrow,
senior in journalism, as our statement against the memorial.)
An Oregon house of representatives joint memorial direct
ed to the National congress in Washington and now in the
Oregon house committee on state and federal affairs reads
as follows:
“We . of . . . Oregon . . . respectfully represent that Where
as there appeal's . . . agitation to liberalize our present immigra
tion laws to the end that displaced persons from Europe may
be allowed entry into this country . . . and Whereas the economic
conditions in this country are now, and for a considerable time
will be, unsettled because of the disruption of industrial agricul
tural production . . . and . . . that the present as well as the ulti
mate welfare of our country will best be served by maintaining
the restrictions on immigration . . . the Congress of the United
.States be . . . memorialized . . . to defeat any act or resolution
... to increase the quotas of aliens allowed to enter this country.
This newspaper questions the validity of these assump
tions. It is true that economic conditions have been unsettled
by reconversion and strikes. However, 58 million persons—
an all-time high—are now employed in the United States.
A glance at help-wanted columns is more revealing. In the
New York Times of January 22, as many as 32 columns were
devoted to help-wanted items. In the Portland Oregonian,
four columns advertise for help. The demand for labor has
never been greater. Income, as well, is at its highest in the
United States with a record of $164,000,000,000 for 1946, ac
cording to a department of commerce report January 30.
t- * * *
Will "the ultimate welfare of our country . . . be best
served by maintaining the restrictions on immigration"? may
now be asked. "Not so,” says Norman Angell in his book,
You and the Refugee, lie shows that successive waves of
Knglish, Irish, Herman, Scandinavian, and Italian immigrants
reached a high point in the United States just before World
War 1. "Were those years . . . when America received as
many as a million new immigrants each year, years of un
employment, or of low wages compared with what ruled in
the rest of the world? There was practically no unemploy
ment in those \ ears, and the wages paid at that time of tie
mendous immigration were the highest paid anywhere in the
world.” Present immigration restrictions were in effect dur
ing the depression of the 1930's when United States’ unem
ployment and washes were dangerously low.
The memorial is trying to say that immigration should
he restricted because of a fear that Americans will lose their
jobs to “foreigners.” This economic fallacy is based on the
idea that the number of jobs is fixed. Actually, the number
of jobs is created by the industry and imagination of indi
viduals—bv ideas and action. That displaced persons in
Europe are potentially good citizens with ideas may .easily be
shown.
The majority of them are Poles, Estonians, Latvians, and
Lithuanians who refuse to go home because they fear the ter
rorist political regimes in their own countries. After examin
ing recent Polish election tactics, Americans can hardly say
their stand is not well founded. ^ ugoslavs and Rumanians
refuse repatriation for the same reason.
Many of these persons are of the professional classes—
professors, lawyers, doctors, and business people, jealous of
their freedom and individualism—fearful of persecution and
collectivism :
Karl ('■. Harrison, the United States representative on the
inter-governmental committee on refugees urged, on January
30, that America ease her immigration laws, saying, “This
country can easily absorb 100,000 European displaced persons
a year for four years.”
In view of the evidence, this paper disagrees with Oregon
house joint memorial number 4. America, from both the hu
manitarian and economic standpoints, can well benefit by
admitting Europe s displaced persons.
Toward One World..
Paris at Peace..Fields ofQrain,
Normandy’s Landing Beaches
(Editor’s note: This is the sec
ond installment of an article by
Dr. Carl Johnson, assistant pro
fessor of Romance Languages.
Dr. Johnson’s article is about his
visit last summer as a guest of
the French government.)
By ONE WORLD CLUB
The next morning after a break
fast of hard dark bread and ersatz
coffee sweetened with saccharin,
we began to plan our activities.
First again, of course, we had to see
Paris. By day Paris was much like
her old self. There is little damage
from bombing. None of the great
monuments had suffered except that
they had not been cleaned for sev
eral years and were wearing a
black coat of smoke and soot.
Automobile traffic had dimin
ished. Bicycles were more numer
ous. People strolled the broad side
walks, loitered in front of window
displays of books, jewelry, per
fumes, and leather goods.
There was less gaiety but plenty
of life and activity. We felt encour
aged. By evening, I had arranged
a three-day motor trip through the
Loire valley and an eight-day ex
cursion through Normandy and
Brittany following the roads that
had figured most in the invasion and
liberation of France.
To the Provinces
I went in large sight-seeing bus
ses that carried thirty passengers.
The wheat along the Loire was in
shocks and looked unusually good.
The bridges which had been of fine
heavy stone were all destroyed.
Some were still lying in the bed of
the stream.
Reconstruction had started on
the most important ones. Between
Orleans and Tours we saw no less
than 50 useless bridges. The castles ■
were not greatly damaged. Most of
them—Chambord, Beugency, Blois,
Amboise, had served as fortresses
for the Free French and the Mar
quisards during the war.
The Nazis turned some artillery |
fire on them, but no irreparable
damage was done. They are quick
ly being brought back into condi
tion as tourist attractions. Each one
is provided with excellent guides
and each has its own treasures of
art, tapestries, furniture, and his
torical materials.
I had a diary with me, written by
the poet Longfellow in 1826 when
he made a similar trip (except that
he walked all the way), and I was
amazed at the accuracy of his de
onri nt inn
And the Hedgerows
The Normandy-Brittany trip was
more impressive but hard to de
scribe. I went by train to Rouen and
by bus to Caen, Bayeau, Cherbourg,
Avranches, St. Malo, Brest, Loii
ent, Lissieux, Falaise. All these are
well known names now.
They all resembled Le Havre. The
heart was gone from each of them.
Each had its own history of bitter
fighting, a history known to every
one. We visited four of the original
sixteen invasion beaches. I had al
ways pictured them as long stretch
es of sand like Agate Beach. But
they were all small, curved inlets,
with fine hard sand which would
carry tanks and trucks at low tide.
The Dieppe invasion failed large
ly because the sand there is coarse
and soft. The heavy guns and sup
ply trucks became stalled and made
excellent targets for the Nazis.
There were many evidences of the
invation at each beach great aims
made of sunken boats filled with
stone and serving as breakwaters
reached out into the English Chan
nel. Landing craft of every type lay
on the sand.
Historic Spots
Only two monuments have been
set up thus far—one at Arromanch
es — ies — Bains where Winston
Churchill came ashore in August
1944, and the other at Courseulles
where General de Gaulle landed on
June 14, 1944. Sprinkle the area
with cemeteries and you will have
a general idea of the sights.
As in the Loire valley, the crops
looked wonderful. All but two of my
fellow-travelers were French. They
were thrilled at the sight of cows,
sheep, apples, and all the food prod
ucts of Normandy. They laughed
and said, "Les Normands su moins
ne creveront pas de faim—at
least the Normans will not die of
hunger.
We stopped to see the Bayeaux
tapestry also which was made by
the wife of William the Conqueror
and which tells in embroidery the
history of the conquest of England.
We spent a day also at Mont St.
Michel. The great old cathedral
which was a shrine in the middle
ages was literally packed. Our guide
said that since the war, the visitors
at Mont St. Michel number about
5,000 per day.
Back to Paris
Back in Paris I looked up former
friends, attended lectures, browsed
in book shops, went to the opera, the
movies, several museums, the Lux
Telling the Editor
ABOUT THE BOOK OF LAJJ
To the Editor:
Wouldn’t it PLEASE be possible
to stop that column of drivel known
as “Book of Lau’’ ? I hate to think
Df the rating given our Emerald by
the high school journalism classes
who receive it under the exchange
system. A publication and the
source of a publication are evaluat
ed by the contents of that same
publication.
The column is not indicative of
college life, nor its level of thinking,
nor its literary ability. To say the
least, the column is a reflection up
on the Emerald, the School of Jour
nalism, and the Faculty as a whole,
for sanctioning publication of such
rankling trash.
Robert B. Merrifield
(Reader Merrifield’s point is well
taken. This is a sample of several
such letters. The Emerald hopes to
make further such communications
unnecessary. The faculty, however,
is blameless in this connection and
we hope to keep it so.—Ed.)
embourg and Tuileries gardens, and
searched the shops for souvenirs
for my family. I had good luck in
every respect. But the principal
theaters were closed. I had wanted
to see some plays at the Comedie
Francaise—Molliere, Racine.
As for the changes in France and
in the people, I could speak indefin
itely.
But if you will bear in mind that
I am speaking only from my own
observations and perhaps not al
ways with perfect accuracy, I can^
sum them up brifely. France lacks
especially, coal for her industries,
clothing and food. The needs are
greatest in that order.
She was wealthy. She is, for the
time being very poor. Her transpor
tation facilities are disrupted. Her
factories are working only part
time for want of power. She relied
on luxuries for much of her wealth
—perfumeb, wines, silks, foods—
and it takes time to replenish lux
ury supplies.
Miss Elizabeth De Cou observed
that the French are tired. That is
true, I believe, but a little bit vague.
They are also underfed, underpaid,
poorly clothed, and uncertain as to
the future. After the first war end
ed in 1918 they built up the devas
tated cities quickly, only to have a
worse storm pass through in 1940
and yet even a worse one in 1944.
Will it happen again? Opinion
among the French was divided.
Some, (a very few) said, “Mais
non,” others said, “Mais oui.” I also
came away in doubt.
Carl L. Johnson
ITFTiJ
- T HEATBE ^
“The Time of Their Lives”
and
“South of the Rio Grande”
DANCING
Saturday
Nights
to
Art Holman’s
Orchestra
Willamette
Park
Ph. — Springfield 326
WESTMINSTER FOUNDATION
1414 Kincaid St.
UNIVERSITY CLASS—9:30-10:30 A. M.
Leader: Marvin A. Tims. Subject, “What Men Live By”
CHURCH SERVICES 11 A. M.
Central Presbyterian Church Fairmount Presbyterian
10th & Pearl Sts. E. 15th & Villard
FORUM, 6:30-7:30 p. m.
(Preceded by Social Tea at 6 P. M.)
Leader: Ellen Sutherland (Student Panel)
Subject: “Where Is Democracy on the U.-O. Campus?”
WE HAVE RECEIVED THE
SHIPMENT OF SHOES
WHICH YOU HAVE WAITED FOR!
DROP IN AND SEE
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